


A Life in Jewels

by phdfan



Series: A Moth-Eaten Scarf [36]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 15:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phdfan/pseuds/phdfan
Summary: Leandra counts her costs in jewels.





	A Life in Jewels

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 'The Way We Were: Pre-Canon' prompt on my bingo card for the allbingo community on Dreamwidth.

Leandra kept the last of her jewels in a carved wooden box, hidden below the handkerchiefs in her underclothes drawer. She had not taken much with her when she fled Kirkwall with the dashing Malcolm Hawke, but her jewels had been gifts. They belonged to her where little else truly did.

There were memories embedded in each one of them.

She had first sold the string of pearls that Viscount Threnhold had given her when she was only seven years old – for a girl with such pretty eyes, he’d said. They paid for the carriage that took them from Highever to the city of Amaranthine, where Malcolm had arranged work.

She sold the Orlesian necklace that Guillame had given her upon their betrothal to pay for clothes for the baby. Leandra handstitched the embroidery on each one of the blankets she bought.

Her silver-and-ruby comb paid for firewood when the baby caught croup in her first year.

The emerald earrings her parents had given her on her tenth birthday paid for their landlord’s silence when a Templar came around asking questions.

She traded her ruby ring – a gift from Gamlen, though she still isn’t sure how he could afford it – for two spaces on a caravan headed south.

The diamond necklace she had worn at Grand Duchess Florianne’s ball supplemented their income when the birth of the twins meant she couldn’t take on any more piecework.

She sold her sapphire ring – a Satinalia present from her cousin in Ferelden – to buy a book for which Malcolm had been longing.

Her emerald bracelet, which had once matched her earrings, was exchanged for a blunt sword and breastplate when little Carver showed an interest in the blade.

It cost her the Amell brooch, embossed with her family crest and encrusted with rubies, to send away the Templar who asked too many questions about Bethany.

Her golden charm bracelet paid for the medicine that failed to save Malcolm’s life.

Leandra clutched the little box closer to her chest. There was but one jewel left in it. The sapphire necklace that had once belonged to her mother.

“Can you pay, or not? Plenty of you buggers want a spot on my ship.”

Her children were looking at her.

She lifted the lid of the box, and took out the necklace. The sapphire – as big as her thumb – caught the light as it spun in the air.

“Will this do?” she asked softly.

The Captain snatched it from her with a grin.

“Welcome aboard,” she said, and tipped her hat.


End file.
